School paper confiscated over front page story

Thursday

Feb 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Student journalists at Bear Creek High School were stunned to learn that their school principal confiscated 1,700 copies of the monthly The Bruin Voice newspaper Wednesday morning, citing concerns that a front-page article questioning campus safety policies would incite panic.

Keith Reid

STOCKTON - Student journalists at Bear Creek High School were stunned to learn that their school principal confiscated 1,700 copies of the monthly The Bruin Voice newspaper Wednesday morning, citing concerns that a front-page article questioning campus safety policies would incite panic.

By early afternoon, the paper was scheduled for its normal Thursday morning delivery, but the missing papers caused a stir on campus and made for an impromptu lesson for the newspaper staff about First Amendment rights and prior restraint.

Principal Shirley McNichols said a story by the paper's Sports Editor Mikala Bussey headlined "Outdated safety plan leaves some wondering: exactly how safe is BC?" is a misleading article that could make students "falsely believe the campus is unsafe." She said the campus is as safe as any other in Lodi Unified, and she withheld delivery of the paper until she could consult district officials.

The Bruin Voice Editor-in-Chief Justine Chang and journalism adviser Kathi Duffel said the principal was embarrassed that the paper exposed loopholes in an outdated 45-page safety policy that many staff members do not read or adhere to and could leave the campus exposed.

They complained on Wednesday that the principal was invoking prior restraint, or preventing publication of information.

The Supreme Court has held most cases of prior restraint unconstitutional except for reasons of national security. While California does not prevent prior review of high school newspapers, the reasons for preventing publication are limited to slander, libel, obscenity or articles that might so incite students as to present a "clear and present danger of the commission of unlawful acts on school premises or the violation of lawful school regulations, or the substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school," according to Education Code Section 48907.

"I feel like their reason (for confiscating the paper) because it would incite student panic is unreasonable," said Chang. "I think (administrators) were embarrassed by how they are portrayed in the article."

McNichols said she was not embarrassed by the contents of the article, but she was concerned that - while not completely false - the story could cause some student panic and affect students' ability to learn. She added that the district has a policy that allows administrators to monitor content of the newspaper and to withhold the publication if an article causes a safety issue.

It's not the first time Duffel has had a run-in with administrators regarding the student paper. Former Principal Daryl Camp asked for prior review of the newspaper in 2011, when students were reporting that he had lost the school's master key.

Duffel disagreed with Camp and went to print without prior review by the principal. She was written up for insubordination, a disciplinary action that was dropped later.

"I was told, because of problems in the past, to inform the district office if there were any concerns with the paper," McNichols said. "This was a precautionary measure. I wanted a second opinion."

Bussey said McNichols was as helpful as she could expect when she was working on the article, even offering to print out the school's safety policy. She was surprised to find out the principal had a negative reaction.

The campus safety article quotes Assistant Principal Marlon Gayle saying, "I am not very confident that the staff is familiar with it (the Comprehensive School Safety Plan)," and quotes campus supervisors Don Tirapelli and Anthony Sulfaro about a lack of communication during recent lockdown drills and two separate reports of weapons on campus.

McNichols said the campus supervisors are "disgruntled employees," and she was not given a chance to respond to their allegations of a mismanaged safety policy.

McNichols said she doesn't deny that safety measures can be upgraded. She said she has recently requested safety updates on campus, including fixing a problem where the school's lockdown alarm and intercom systems are not functional in all classrooms.

She added that the portions of the school's safety plan Bussey's article questions have not been updated to reflect current school staffing levels and police presence because the staff instead uses a different - and updated - document to indicate those things.

"I don't want to make a bigger issue out of this than it is. I think (the paper's) intentions are good. I just want to make sure we are not creating an unsafe situation by perpetuating a false impression that we don't have a policy in place and that we aren't aware of shortcomings or are not seeking improvements," McNichols said.

Lodi Unified Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Dawn Vetica did not provide the district's reasoning for allowing the paper's distribution.